Improvement in machines for bending horseshoe-blanks



4 Sheets-Sheet 1.' J. T. WALKER. Machine for Bending HdrseshOe-Blanks.

No.-2'I0,376. Pat ented Nov. 26,1878.

TVI T JVES ES fly", I'TOR N. PETERS. FHOTO-UTHOGRAPHER, WASHINGTON. D cv4 Sheets-Sheet 2..

J. T. WALKER. Machine for Be -nding HorseshoIe-Blanks.

No. 210,376. Patented Nov. 26, 1878.

WITNES, S I EJV'TOR XW 7. Q By .flttorneyS i m N-FETERS,PHoTn-LrmoGRAPnER WASHINGYON D C 4Sheets-Sheet 3.

J. T. WALKER. Machine for Bending Horseshoe-Blanks.

No. 210,376. Patented Nov. 26, 1878.

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4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

J. T. WALKER. v v Machine for Bending Horseshoe-Blanks."

No. 210,376. Patented Nov. 26,1878.

| l l I I lfnwezal'art' N, PETERS, PHOTO-LITHDGRAPHER, WASHINGTON D cUNITED STATES PATENT QFFIGE.

JAMES T. WALKER, OF ALBANY, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN MACHINES FOR BENDING HORSESHOE-BLANKS.

Specification forlning'part of Letters Patent No. 210,376, datedNovember 26, 1878; application filed November 9, 1878.

To all whom it may concern Be it'known that I, JAMES T. WALKER, ofAlbany, in the county of Albany and in the State of New York, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for BendingHorseshoe-Blanks and other articles; and do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of referencemarked thereon, making a part of this specification.

The nature of my invention consists in the construct-ion and arrangementof a machine for bending horseshoe-blanks, as will be hereinafter morefully set forth.

In order to enable others skilled in the art to which my inventionappertains to make and use the same, I will now proceed to describe itsconstruction and operation, referring to the annexed drawings, in which-Figure 1 is a side elevation of my machine. Fig. 2 is a front elevationof the same. Fig. 3 is a front view of the main part of the ma chine,with the swinging beam and die removed. Figs. 4 and 5 are detailed viewsof part of the machine. Figs. 6, 7, and 8 show a modification of themachine.

A represents the bed, upon which is supported a suitable frame-work, B,for containing the operative parts of the machine.

In the rear part of the frame B is mounted a shaft, a, upon one end ofwhich is a flywheel, E, and to which shaft motion may be communicated inany suitable or convenient manner. On the shaft a is keyed or otherwisefirmly secured an eccentric, 0, around which is placed the usual band D,having the rod or pitman F projecting from the same. This pitman is madein two parts, connected by a double nut or screw-sleeve, G, by means ofwhich the pitman can belengthened or shortened, as required, for theproper working of the machine.

The upper end of the pitman F is provided with a longitudinal slot, 1),and works over a pin, d, in the rear end of a walking-beam, H, mountedupon trunnions in the upper part of the main frame B. The bendingmechanism is connected to the forward end of the walking-beam, andoperated by the eccentric and connecting-rod or pitman above described.

It will readily be seen that at the upward stroke of the pitman theweight of the bending mechanism will carry it down, and keep the pin orstud, d at the rear endof the walking-beam, at the upper end of the slotbin the pitman. At the completion of the downward movement of the frontend of the walkingbeam the pitman continues to move upward the length ofthe slot 12, and at the commencement of its downward movement it willagain move the length of saidjslot before it will commence to actuatethe walking-beam. This beam, with the bending mechanism, will thusremain at rest for a certain period, sufficient for the insertion of anew blank.

The forward end of the walking-beam H is, by a rod, J, connected with across-head, I, moving vertically in guides e e on the frame B. On thiscross-head are two studs, f f, upon which the bending-levers L L arehung, the lower ends of said levers carrying horizontal arbors h h,parallel with the studs on which the levers are hung. The arbors h hproject both in front and rear of the levers, and carry upon their rearends rollers i i, which work against curved guides 70 k, attached to themain portion of the frame.

Upon each arbor h, in front of its lever, is a grooved roller, m, or aroller provided with two circumferential flange, which are slightlybeveled, forming a groove between them. These rollers are adjustable ontheir arbors at right angles to their line of motion. The adjustment ofthe rollers has the effect of twistin g or controlling the twisting,stretching, or bending of either edge of the bar by bringing thecorresponding flange of the rolls in contact therewith, the otherflanges serving to guide the other edge of the bar. In front of theroller m on the arbor h is a smooth roller, n, which works against aguide, 19, attached to the forward portion of the frame B.

Each lever Lalso carries on its forward side a guide, K, correspondingwith the grooved roller m, for the insertion of the blank.

To the lower portion of the frameB, between the bending-levers, isattached a plate or form, M, of substantially the form shown in Fig. 3,having at its upper end a forwardly-proj ectin g lug, t, and below thesame a vertical slot, 8.

In suitable bearings at the front portion of the frame B is placed ashaft, 11, upon which is secured an upright beam, N. The upper portionof this beam has upon its inner side a bar, 0, attached to it, the upperand lower ends of which are beveled, as shown at a: a: in Fig. 1. Thisbeam is operated by means of a rounded pin or lug, '10, projecting fromthe cross-head I, and a spring, I, attached to the frame 13, and actingagainst an arm, R, attached to the beam, as shown. The tendency of thespring I is to throw the lower end of the beam). outward, while the lug10, working against the bar 0, throws said lower end of the beam inward.The lower end of the beam N forms a sort of flanged box to receive aframe, S, which is held by means of a single bolt, 3 with washer z, thebolt passing through a slot, (0, in the frame, so that said frame can betilted up and down, as hereinafter described, the frame being held bymeans of adjusting set-screws b d at the back at any angle desired. Uponthe inner face of the frame S is fastened the die or former V, having anosepiece, 0, beveled on its under side, to enter the slot 8 in theplate M, said nose-piece having above it a rib, j", which abuts againstthe lug t on said plate M.

The frame b has at the back, in its lower portion, an opening, h, withshoulders at top and bot-tom, on which shoulders is laid a castironplate, 1', and against this plate works the lower adjusting-screw, d.

In case of any mistake in feeding the blank (for instance, if it shouldbe fed above the nose-piece 0) as the bending-levers move up ward, somepart of the machine would necessarily break. Now, by providing thecastiron plate 1', unsupported in the center, this part is the weakest,and hence said plate is the part that will break and ease the machinery.It then takes but a moment to remove the broken pieces and insert a newplate, at a very trifling cost.

T represents an adjustable stop, against which the blank is fed. \V \Vare clearers, arranged to remove the bent shoe from the die or former V.

The operation of my machine is substantially as follows: The machinebeing in the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2-that is to say, the rollersat the lower ends of the'bendiug-levers L, below the plate or form M,and the lower end of the beam N thrown outward-the operating parts areat rest, and the blank is inserted in the guides KKagainst the stop T.The bending-levers L now move upward, and the lower end of the beam N,with the formerV, moves inward, so that the flanged or grooved rollersat will bend the blank around the former. Just before the upwardmovement of the levers L ceases, and they commence to move downwardagain, the die or former V is moved outward again, and the clearers IVremove the bent shoe from the former, and the shoe drops down, leavingthe parts ready for the next blank.

In the construction of my machine, it will be seen that while bendingthe blank the four corners of the blank are operated upon, the two innercorners by the plate M and former V, and the two outer ones by theflanged rollers. By this means I control the twisting of the shoe andany tendency to bend unequally.

It is well known that in the bending of horseshoe-blanks the innercircumference upsets or thickens, while the outer circumferencestretches and becomes thinner, and for this reason machines ordinarilyused have failed to control the tendency of the blank to twist in theoperation of bending.

In my machine I can, at will, either entirely prevent or so control anddirect the twisting tendency as to produce or form a blank of anydesired inclination. This is accomplished by means of the former V,which is carried by the adjustable frame S, or equivalent device, inconnection with flanged rollers or other controlling devices for theouter walls of the shoe.

The flanged rollers m are set so as to guide the outer walls of theblank to be operated upon by the bending mechanism, the former V andformer M being adjusted to guide the inner edges.

In a horseshoe-blank where grooves are made for the nail-holes the ironis thinner at one side than at the other, and the thinner side wouldnaturally, in bending, have a tendency to spread or twist more than theother. This is effectually controlled in my machine; and, if desired, Ican, by inclining the former V relative to the flange-rollers m on, sodirect the twisting tendency as to give any desired inclination to theblank, and the inner walls of the nail-grooves may be thus made on anydesired incline suitable for either a hind or front shoe.

It will be seen that the rollers t and n on each arbor 71, workingagainst their respective guides 70 and 12, will hold the arbor perfectlystraight and maintain the central bendingroller, m, in its proper placeto perform the work designed for it.

In Figs. 6, 7, and 8 I have shown a modification of my machine,consisting of placing theformer V on the plate or form M, instead of onthe frame S. In this case I provide a clearer, A, above the upper end ofthe former, with a rod, m, projecting rearward through the frame andoperated by a rod, 15', on the journal of the walking-beam H. I alsothen use flanged rollers n, in connection with the former, to hold thecorners of the iron, in substantially the same manner and for the samepurpose as above described.

For different sizes and shapes of shoes the forms M V and guides k p, aswell as rollers m, are removed, and others substituted in their places.

The completed shoe-blank may thus be made perfectly straight or flat, ormore or less twisted, and with the heel straight and more or lelsstapering, and thickened as may be de sirec Having thus fully describedmyinvention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by LettersPatent, is-

1. In a machine for bending horseshoeblanks into horseshoe form, amechanism, substantially as herein described, to give the blank therequired form, and which controls the inclination of the wall of thecreasein the process of bending.

2. In a machine for bending horseshoeblanks into horseshoe form, amechanism, substantially as herein described, to give the blank therequired form, and adapted by adjustment to vary or control theinclination of the Wall of the crease in the process of bending.

November, 1878.

JAMES T. WALKER. Witnesses:

O. L. EVERT, FRANK GAL'I.

